An heir to the Disney dynasty has come out as transgender amid the still-evolving furor over Florida’s “parental rights” legislation.
Charlee Disney is the child of Roy P. Disney, who is the son of Roy E. Disney and grandson of Roy O. Disney, who co-founded The Walt Disney Company with his brother, Walt, and delayed his retirement in the late 1960s to oversee the construction and opening of Disney World, which he renamed Walt Disney World as a tribute to his late brother, who died in 1966.
The Walt Disney Company has faced internal and external pressure from LGBT advocates who have urged executives at the family-focused entertainment brand to use Disney’s cultural capital to condemn the Florida legislation, given the company’s massive presence in Lake Buena Vista, where the four-park Walt Disney World Resort is located.
Listen to the latest episode of the Faithwire podcast 👇
Charlee Disney, the great grandchild of Roy O. Disney, made the announcement during the Human Rights Campaign gala on March 13, according to Fox News. Charlee Disney was born female but now identifies as male.
“As members of the Disney family, standing up for equality has always been what we do,” Charlee Disney said at the gala. “Tonight, our family is issuing a fundraising challenge.”
“We really believe in the work you are all doing,” continued Charlee. “And we will give $250,000 if we can match that amount in the room tonight. I hope you will help us fight for equality everywhere.”
The 30-year-old Disney heir added, “I grew up with HRC, attending events like this one, and I’m so proud to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community. It is very important to me and my brother, Aidan, and my parents, Sheri and Roy P. Disney.”
Roy P. Disney, the great-nephew of Walt Disney, told the Los Angeles Times, “Equality matters deeply to us, especially because our child, Charlee, is transgender and a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community.”
Charlee Disney, a generally private high school biology and environmental science teacher, expressed a desire to do more to advocate for the LGBT community.
“I feel like I don’t do very much to help,” Charlee Disney told the Times. “I don’t call senators or take action. I feel like I could be doing more.”
Sheri Disney, Charlee’s mother, said she was disappointed in Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who tried — at first — to stay out of the political fight over Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, which was mischaracterized by the media and leftist groups as the “Don’t Say Gay bill.” The law, it should be noted, simply prohibits educators from teaching kids in pre-K through third-grade classrooms about gender identity and sexual orientation.
“I have a trans kid, and I love my kid no matter what,” Sheri Disney said, noting a time when Charlee told her at 2-3 years old, “I’m a boy on the inside.”
Fellow Disney heir, Abigail Disney, tweeted last week she was “busting with pride” over the comments made by her niece Charlee Disney and brother Roy P. Disney.
Anything else?
All of this, of course, comes as The Walt Disney Company has doubled and tripled down in its condemnation of Florida’s “parental rights” law, which takes effect July 1.
As CBN’s Faithwire previously reported, Disney is linking up with WarnerMedia, Paramount, and Comcast to air a GLAAD-produced ad featuring a transgender teenager and claiming those who oppose granting minors transgender treatments and surgeries want to “tear families apart.”
News of the commercial followed a statement released by The Walt Disney Company in late March stating its “goal” to see the parental rights bill “repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts,” adding it “remain[s] committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that.”
Additionally, Chapek issued an apology to LGBT employees during the company’s “Reimagine Tomorrow Summit” — an internal conference for Disney staffers — in early April, vowing to be a “better ally” in the future and promising to “move quickly” to implement more changes to that end.
You can read more about what other executives said during the summit by clicking here.
The Walt Disney Company, it should be noted, has faced swift backlash from Christians and conservatives who oppose its leftward drift and its embrace of the LGBT agenda.
Former worship leader Sean Feucht, now a conservative activist, recently led a rally outside the brand’s headquarters in Burbank, California. Hundreds of people — including a current Disneyland employee — showed up.
“Parents across America were blindsided by the fact that Disney would enable people that are fighting for the sexualization of children, starting in kindergarten,” Feucht told CBN’s Faithwire just hours before the protest. “We’re talking about 4-year-olds. It’s one thing to make content. It’s another thing to fight for those who want to groom and sexualize kids.”
The Disneyland employee, for her part, told her fellow cast members to stand up for what they believe in. She told them they are “not alone” and should “stand up for righteousness.”
“It’s OK to stand up for righteousness,” she said. “[A]ny Disney cast members that are afraid to be bold, that are afraid to be courageous, stand up. It’s OK. You’re not alone.”
***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for Faithwire’s daily newsletter and download the CBN News app, developed by our parent company, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***